a/n: Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry! I know it's been reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long but I've been so busy with school and other things. Read my newest Heartland story, "Rodeo Stoner"! (which is next on my update list, followed by BP) You know you want to… it'll be really good, I swear. Well, alright… the first chapter is a bit odd but it will get better! And reviews are always nice... And review this chapter too!

-Steph

Disclaimer: Everything recognizable belongs to Lauren Brooke.

The Peak

Chapter 17—Welcome to the World of the Bad Kids

Thursday, April thirteenth, 2006 (Wedding is on Saturday the fifteenth. I know I said fourteenth in the beginning but now it's the fifteenth.)

Amy walked slowly into the hotel, savoring every last bit of her evening with Ty. She listened as the soft purr of the Ferrari disappeared into the night, she didn't look back. She opened the door to the hotel and slipped into the dimly lit lobby. She was relieved when she found no hotel staff behind the desk. They weren't too fond of people walking around without shoes, right? And leaving a trail of chlorine water one the expensive carpet wasn't exactly smiled upon, right?

Either way, Amy walked semi stiffly over to the elevator, her wet jeans clinging uncomfortably to her legs. She padded silently into the elevator and pressed the button that would take her to her floor. There was a light 'ping' as the elevator reached her floor and the doors opened. Amy stepped out and the elevator doors slid shut behind her.

She looked around her. It was dark and empty, which was probably a good thing considering that every second that ticked by brought them closer to four am.

The only thing, Amy thought as she dug in her pocket for her room key, about the time is that everyone is sure to be sleeping. I'll just think of an excuse to tell them tomorrow… er, later today.

She inserted her room key into the slot provided by the door handle. The light blinked green and Amy turned the handle and pushed the door open. If she had not been so lost in her thoughts, she would have noticed that only from her room was there a faint sliver of light protruding from under the door in the dark hallway.

Keeping her head down, her mind occupied with thoughts other then where she was, Amy walked stiffly into the room, her wet jeans making a rough, scratching noise against the tiled entrance. She was in the process of placing her wet sneakers down next to the door when an angry voice spoke up,

"Amy Fleming, where have you been?"

Amy dropped her shoes in shock and then froze. She slowly lifted her head. There was her dad, and Grandpa and the rest of her friends, Matt, Soraya, Tom and Joni.

"Um… hi," Amy said weakly.

Furry filled Tim's face as he faced his middle daughter. The daughter that had gotten back at four in the morning and had an ever growing wet puddle growing around her. "Would you care to explain to us just where exactly you were?" Tim fought to keep his voice calm but it was laced with fury all the same.

Amy opened her mouth to speak her excuse.

Tim stopped her, however. "And don't even try saying that you got lost getting the snacks," Amy fell silent. "Soraya went to look for you five hours ago and found the chips and soda in the hall, you, however, was nowhere insight. The truth this time, Amy."

"I…" Amy weighed her words carefully. "I was getting the soda and chips and stuff," she began, "and I was walking back to the elevator when I… when I ran into a friend."

"This friend being who exactly?" The look on Tim's face clearly showed that he didn't even need to ask the question, he knew the answer already… just like everyone else clearly did.

"Um… no one you know," Amy said weakly in attempt to save herself. Her efforts were in vain.

"You were with that boy," Tim stated factually.

"He's not a boy, dad." Amy froze when she saw the look on Tim's face… and her Grandfather's face and her friends faces. She was puzzled for a moment and thought back over her words. "No!" she gasped. "I didn't mean it like that! I…"

"What did you mean by that statement then, Amy?" Tim asked, fury building on his face. He was going to murder that boy if he had laid one finger on his daughter.

Smooth, Amy, real smooth. Just dig yourself in deeper.

"I just meant that he has a name," Amy said weakly.

"If that boy – excuse me, Ty – laid one finger on you then…" There really was no reason for Tim to finish his threat.

"He didn't touch me, dad," well, it wasn't completely a lie, he hadn't touched her like that… save maybe once…

Tim picked up the tone in Amy's voice and stared at her. "You can swear by that?"

"Well, yeah, sure."

"Amy," Tim said in a warning voice.

"He didn't touch me like that at all, dad, I swear," Amy said honestly.

"But he touched you," Tim confirmed.

"No, that's not what I meant. I—" Amy paused. "Ty's not like that, dad. Why do you guys insist on seeing the worst in him?" She wasn't at a complete lose as to where their opinions had come from.

"We only judge him on the behavior he has exhibited in our presence in the past several weeks," Tim said.

"He's not a bad guy, though," Amy was quick to defend him. "He's really nice to me," she assured them. Judging by the look she received from her father maybe that wasn't the correct wording for that particular sentiment. She turned to face Jack, "Come on, Grandpa," she begged him, "you knew him better then dad did, tell him Ty's not a bad guy. Please."

Jack's face was pained. He didn't want to hurt his Granddaughter but—"Amy," he began, "I know how Ty used to be and I also know how he is now," he said carefully. "He's not the same kid he was before the accident. He hasn't changed for the better; your father is well placed in his accusations."

Amy was silent. "But he's different around me," she said firmly, she remembered how he had treated her friends but she also knew how he was so different when it was just the two of them… well three, if Mick was to be counted since he was often times there too. "He's really nice, just like he used to be, two years ago," with a few changed in his likes and interests of course. Though, come to think of it, she didn't think that racing was something that the old Ty wouldn't have tried. It was just in his nature to do things like that. The old Ty just wouldn't have taken things to the extremes that the new Ty tended to do.

"Amy," Tim began sternly, "there is nothing about that boy that is the same as two years ago. Accidents can do strange things to people. Ty's changed… and not for the better."

"You're wrong!" Amy yelled as loud as she dared. "You're all wrong!"

"You are not in the position to be yelling at us, young lady," Tim warned his daughter.

Amy stayed silent and looked at the floor and the puddle of water that was growing rapidly around her.

"He's not bad though," Amy insisted after a moment, her eyes still fixed on the wet floor. "I mean, I get why you guys think that he is but he's not. He's… different around me. He wouldn't do anything to put me in danger," Amy insisted confidently, finally looking up at her father.

"Amy," Tim sighed wearily, "what do you expect us to think? You walk in at four in the morning soaking wet and you have yet to tell us what you were doing."

"Um," Amy traced her toe through the water, "we, um, went… swimming."

"You've been swimming for six hours?"

"Um, no, not exactly."

"What would posses you to go swimming at this time? And in your clothes, no less?"

"Um," Amy thought quickly. "The air-conditioner broke?" she tried out the excuse Ty had used with his father but it came out more as a question.

"Nice try," Tim said. "So did Ty's parents know you were there?"

"Um, well, Ty's dad knew that he was there…"

"But he didn't know you were there," Tim finished. "So, let me get this straight, you've been with Ty, alone, for the past six hours, some part of that time being spent at his house and his parents didn't know you were there. Is that correct?"

"We didn't go inside his house," Amy said meekly.

Tim had been trying to control his anger and, in his opinion, had been doing a fine job of it, but now it all came back. He let out a deep breath to try and calm himself as he faced his dripping wet daughter.

"Mick was there, too," Amy blurted out.

"Great," Tim pushed a hand through his hair. "There were two of them. Is that supposed to make me feel any better about this, Amy?"

"God, dad," Amy sighed, exasperated. "They didn't do anything, okay? He was really cool while I was in his car and—"

"You were in his car?" Tim yelled.

Amy cringed. "Just for a little bit while Ty was…" she stopped abruptly.

"While Ty was what, Amy?"

"Um, nothing really. Ty was just, uh, otherwise occupied at the time."

"Occupied doing what?" Tim asked.

"Um, nothing important really," Amy shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"What was Ty doing, Amy?" Tim repeated, more forcefully this time. Clearly he expected an answer.

"It wasn't anything," Amy insisted, "really. He was just, uh, taking care of something I guess, with a friend," Amy added hurriedly.

"This friend being…?"

"I don't know," Amy shrugged.

Something sparked in Tim's eyes. "Amy, I swear to God if any of that car racing crap went on tonight while you were with them then—"

"God! Dad!" Amy yelled, finally loosing it. "Why do you care what they did? I've told you fifty million times already that they didn't do anything to hurt me! I'm standing right here! Do I look hurt to you? I'm fine! Whatever Ty and Mick want to do is their business and it doesn't concern you! I was only with them because I made Ty take me with them, okay? I went on my own accord and I swear that everything Ty did, he did to keep me safe!" Amy took a deep breath and stopped her rant.

"You are not to see this boy ever again."

Amy's eyes widened in shock. "But, dad—"

"No, Amy, you are not going to see him again while we're here. We'll be going home in not even a week; I trust that you can manage without his presence for a few more days."

"Dad! That's not fair! I—" Amy tried to protest.

"It is fair, Amy," Tim said. "I don't want to hear anything more on the matter. Tomorrow, excuse me, this afternoon at twelve we are going on a boat tour of Lake Pleasant. I would suggest getting some sleep now."

"I've already been to Lake Pleasant," Amy snapped at her father.

"Well you're just going to go again, aren't you?" was Tim's reply. Tim turned to face Soraya, Matt, Joni and Tom. "You guys get some rest now."

And, without another word from anyone, Tim and Jack left the room, closing the door behind them with a gentle click.

Amy stood in the puddle of water for a minute, too stunned to do anything.

"Amy—" Matt started but never got the chance to complete his thought.

Amy rounded on him and the others that were either sitting on Soraya or Joni's respective beds or the couch. "What?" she hissed. "Haven't you done enough already?"

"What?" Soraya asked, confused. "We didn't do anything, Amy."

"Like hell you didn't!" Amy burst out.

"Amy, what are you talking about?" Joni asked cautiously.

"You could have tried you know!" Amy said. "You could have tried to cover for me! But did you? No!" Amy accused. She knew that she was out of line in what she was saying but she was too far gone to care at that point.

"What did you want us to do, Amy?" Soraya asked meekly. "We were waiting for you but you didn't come. We didn't know where you were! We thought you might be in trouble or something."

"Well I wasn't," Amy snapped. "I was perfectly fine and happy. But now I am in trouble, so thanks."

"We were just worried about you," Tom said softly.

"Well you had no reason to be," Amy said coldly as she yanked dry clothes out of the dresser she had claimed as hers.

"We didn't know that though," Matt said defensively. "You could have been kidnapped or something."

"Unless you count kidnapping as going with someone on your own free will then I wasn't kidnapped," Amy assured them.

"How were we to know that, Amy?" Soraya wailed. "I tried calling your cell-phone but you didn't answer! Your dad came in here to say goodnight to you and… what were we supposed to tell him?"

"You could have said that I was getting the food," Amy suggested. "Or that I was taking a shower, or that I was getting some medicine because I wasn't feeling well or that I was already asleep because I had a headache. There are a lot of things you could have told him but you told him that you had no idea where I was. You're great friends."

Soraya, Matt, Joni and Tom were all silent after Amy's accusation.

"Amy, that's not fair!" Joni said.

Amy held up a hand. "Whatever. I'm going to change and then try to figure out a way to get myself out of this." Amy stomped into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

Soraya, Joni, Tom and Matt were left in a stunned silence, not quite sure what exactly they should do next.

The Peak

Noon

Lake Pleasant

Amy stomped out of the Dodge Durango and crossed her arms over her chest, making no effort to disguise her distaste a being at Lake Pleasant. She put on her tinted sunglasses and stared at her father as he got out of the drivers side.

"Be nice," he hissed to Amy as he grabbed her arm. "For your sisters' sake." Tim let her go and turned away.

No one besides those that had been in the room early that morning had any idea of what had happened the night before. Though, some had already questioned Amy's less then cheery mood.

Amy followed behind the rest of her family and friends as they walked through the parking lot to the large dock that the ferry was moored at.

She felt ridiculous in her white bikini decorated with blue, pink and orange hearts, the halter, string bikini top had a big heart accompanied by two smaller hearts on the right side, black Bermuda shorts and had ditched her t-shirt in the car. Actually, she knew she should feel ridiculous, it wasn't a very 'Amy-Fleming-outfit' but she didn't, not really. With her big sunglasses and long brown hair down and straight, she would be so bold as to say that she looked hot. Too bad that a certain somebody wasn't there to notice her.

Soraya looked behind her to her best friend. She didn't understand Amy's sudden mood change. She'd never acted like this before. Soraya shook her head but turned to face forwards again. She'd talk to Amy later and work everything out, but, for now, she was determined to have a good time.

Amy missed Soraya's gaze and Soraya missed the grin the lifted Amy's lips.

Amy had been looking around the parking lot, just out of what had become habit. She couldn't very well miss the black Ferrari and hunter green Corvette that were parked side by side, could she? Now, her thoughts were filled of how to get away from being stuck on that tourist boat so she could have a little more fun.

Amy glanced towards the open bar. She quickly scanned over all of the young people that were there despite the early time. Her eyes stopped on two figures, both obviously male, that sat at the bar. There backs were turned. One had blonde hair and the other had brown hair, both had broad shoulders and were tan.

The brown haired one spun around on his bar stool. The emerald eyes that met Amy's gaze were all the confirmation she needed.

Ty smiled widely at her and waved. Amy waved back. Ty beckoned her over with his hand. Amy pointed to her large group of family and friends and shrugged apologetically. Ty just gestured to her again, clearly adamant about her joining him. Mick turned around and grinned and waved, too. He, too, beckoned her over. Amy sighed; obviously she was overpowered and had no choice but to consent.

"Uh, dad?" Amy said. Everyone stopped at Amy's voice, momentarily surprised that Amy had decided to finally speak.

"Yes, Amy?" Tim said wearily, praying that Amy would be nice.

"I'm going to go over to get a drink," she gestured vaguely to the bar. "You know," she said quickly, "water." A quick glance over told her that Ty and Mick had smartly turned back around so that their back s faced her.

"I've got a water right here, Ames," Lou said, going to pull a water bottle out of her beach bag.

"I want a cold water," Amy said quickly. "I'll be back."

She didn't wait for another word from anyone before she was walking off to the bar. Tim watched her retreating back curiously. He looked towards the bar but saw nothing suspicious. He and the rest of his family and friends continued down the 'boardwalk', he trusted Amy to not do anything that he would be against.

Amy, on the other hand, felt just a little guilty at disobeying her father but she walked determinedly forwards. She was almost seventeen; she could take care of herself.

Ty turned back around to face her as he heard her flip-flops crunching on the gravel getting closer to him. He leaned back against the bar and watched as she approached.

Amy was glad for the dark sunglasses she wore at that moment. She was glad that could not see her eyes, afraid that he would be able to read her as easily as he had once upon a time. Because, the sight of six foot three inches of pure male God was enough to unnerve even Amy. Especially when said male only wore a pair of cameo shorts and dark leather flip-flops and, having no shirt left none of his beautiful, taught, muscled and tanned chest to the imagination. The brown hair that almost completely covered his dazzling emerald eyes only helped in many pleasant ways.

Amy was beginning to think that there was a whole other meaning to 'Lake Pleasant'.

"Hey," Ty said as Amy reached him. She stopped to awkwardly stand in front of him, not allowing herself to look at his chest. It was ridiculous, had she not just seen his chest earlier that morning? Why feel like this now?

"Hey," Amy echoed in response.

"Long time no see," Ty joked.

Amy rolled her eyes and laughed along with Ty, feeling more comfortable now that they were laughing.

"How are you?" Amy asked, looking back on it she realized how lame it sounded.

Ty didn't seem to care however. "Besides the fact that I got three hours of sleep I'm fine."

"I beat you on that one," Amy joked. "I got five hours."

"I'd still be asleep now if it weren't for mom," he sighed. "She woke me up for school and wouldn't leave me alone until I was up."

"Oh," Amy said, "right. Shouldn't you be at school then?" she asked skeptically.

"I really didn't think I could function on three hours of sleep," Ty informed her with a grin. "I decided to come here instead. Besides, I figured a victory day was in store for last night and Mick agreed."

"I see," Amy laughed. "You can't do school work but you can operate machinery." She was, of course, referring to Ty's boat.

"Course," Ty agreed. "Oh yeah, did anyone know you weren't there last night?" he asked with a trace of concern.

Amy snorted. "Yeah, my dad, grandpa and friends were all up when I got in."

"Sorry, I guess I got you in trouble, huh?"

"Well, I pointed out many times that I had not been kidnapped and all but… yeah. Dad was pretty mad. In fact," Amy began, "I've been forbidden to see you."

"Forbidden to see me?" Ty laughed like it was a big joke. Amy joined in his laughter too, it really was quite funny once she thought about it. "And yet you're here."

"And yet I'm here," Amy echoed. "That should tell you something, huh?"

"Yes," Ty said with a smile, "it does."

Amy and Ty lapsed into silence.

Mick, who had been having his own conversation with a pretty redhead, had been listening the whole time and excused himself from the redhead for a moment to turn to Ty and Amy and say, "Now's the time when you sneak her off to your boat, Ty." Then he turned back to the redhead.

Ty laughed at his friend. "So, do you want to do as he says?" he asked Amy.

"Go on your boat?" Amy stated the obvious.

"What else?"

"What about my dad and everyone else? We're supposed to be going on that boat tour of the lake," Ty wrinkled his nose in distaste at the idea. Amy noticed Ty's expression and tapped a finger against her lips. "You know," she remarked, "I agree, I'm all up for your boat."

Ty's grin made a grin spread across Amy's face, too.

"Great," Ty leapt off of his barstool. He reached behind him and grabbed an old, worn and fraying army green baseball cap. "Disguise," he told Amy as he pulled it on his head.

"Ah, I see."

"Let's go." Ty grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her out of the bar.

Mick grinned as he watched them go. Ty was so gone, he thought with a laugh before he turned back to the pretty redhead.

Ty and Amy slowed to a casual walk as they passed behind Amy's large group of family and friends. Ty made sure that he was walking closest to the group and he put his arm over Amy's bare shoulder. If everything went according to plan then they wouldn't be noticed, but, if they were, Ty hoped the hat would give them enough time to get away with just being seen as an ordinary couple.

Tim looked around for any sign of Amy. He couldn't see her at the bar and they were getting on the ferry right then. His only hope was that she had already gotten onto the ferry. Tim sighed as he stepped onto the big boat behind Helena. He'd look for her and so help him she had better be on that boat.

The rest of the ferry was loaded and the ramp locked in its upright position. A long, loud, blast of the whistle signaled the ferries departure.

Amy laughed at how easy it had been.

Ty grabbed her hand again and they ran towards the dock that held the privately owned boats. He helped her onto the rocking speed boat before jumping in behind the steering wheel. Soon enough, they were speeding around the lake.

Amy knew she'd be in trouble later but, she realized, she didn't really care. There was only so long she could go on being the naive, goody-goody girl she had been. And, quite frankly, she liked this way much better.

The Peak

Lily couldn't remember being so bored in a long time. She could tell that Soraya, Matt, Joni and Tom all felt the same, too. The only ones that were enjoying themselves were the adults. Lily saw no point in being stuck on the damned floating tourist contraption that crawled along the water.

Lily wasn't sure how her step-sister had managed it, but Amy was nowhere to be seen on the boat. Lily was quite envious of Amy though, the livid look on Tim's face when he found that Amy was not on the boat was enough to make Lily feel sorry for the time Amy would get when she was found.

Lily leaned against the railing and looked down into the clear water. Her and her family took up one side of the ferry. Lily was in the middle with Tom, Joni, Matt and Soraya on one side and all of the adults on the other.

A fake, boring voice was droning on and on from the speakers overhead about the mountains surrounding Lake Pleasant. Lily paid no attention to it. She wished that she might be older so that she could be on one of the speedboats, preferably on a trip with her friends. Now that would be fun.

Lily watched as a particularly flashy black speedboat sliced across the water. The bright sun shone off of the glossy paintjob and accented the dark blue, green and gray stripes on the side. A girl sat on the side of the boat clutching the guardrail, completely ignoring the built in couches that were meant to be sat on. The wind whipped her long brown hair back and she was laughing. There was a boy standing behind the steering wheel. The wind was blowing his dark hair around too and, he too was laughing.

They both looked happy, Lily noted with a sigh. She wished she could be on that boat.

She couldn't help herself as she reached over and grabbed on to Tim's arm. "Oh, daddy!" she pleaded. "Could you please rent a speedboat for later? Please?" she gave her father he best puppy-dog face. Tim smiled at his daughter.

"We'll see, Lils."

"Pleeeeeease?" Lily begged some more. "Look!" she pointed to the black speedboat that was fast approaching them. "Doesn't that look like fun?"

"We'll see, Lils," Tim repeated.

Lily pouted, that was most likely a no. She leaned over the railing and glared at the speedboat.

It surprised her to see that the speedboat was slowing down until it came to a stop a little ways away from the ferry. Lily reasoned that they were not at all aware of the ferry.

Lily was, indeed right. Neither Ty nor Amy noticed the ferry so near to them. Ty because he tended not to notice things that were of no concern to him and Amy because she was having such a good time she had forgotten all about her family and friends and the ferry ride.

Ty shut the engine off completely and abandoned his control station to join Amy. He sat on the couch next to where Amy sat on the side of the boat.

"So, having fun yet?" He asked Amy with a grin as she attempted to straighten her hair.

"Yes," Amy smiled big. "This is so much fun. I—"

Amy started to say but was cut off by the loud blasting of a horn. She let out a small screech and jumped, startled. Ty grabbed her by the waist and managed to steady her before she tipped off the side of the boat. Amy laughed at herself but stopped as she looked towards where the sound had come from. Her eyes traveled up the high sides of a large ship. She gripped Ty's arm quite hard as she was met with the sight of her family and friends lining the edge of the boat.

Lily was shocked when she recognized the girl on the black speedboat as Amy. Amy look equally shocked, her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open.

"Look up," Amy hissed to Ty.

Ty looked slowly up and collapsed against the cushions of the couch with a groan.

On the boat, the horn had attracted the attention of all its passengers. Lily listened with dread as the captain came on the loud speaker and chuckled, "Looks like we've given our friends down there a bit of a fright," he chuckled some more in a way that Lily found increasingly annoying. "Everybody wave!"

Tim, and the rest of his group, looked down. All of them were smiling and laughing until they saw who just they were waving to.

"Ty!" Amy pushed his shoulders until he was standing up. "GO!"

Ty needed no extra urging as he leapt back to the steering wheel and jammed the key back into the ignition. He twisted it and it seemed to take forever for the rumble of the engine to come back.

"Amy?" Tim said in shock as he watched the boat. "AMY!" He yelled furiously.

Amy gulped, knowing she'd be in trouble later, and slid back down onto the couch. She ran carefully over to where Ty was. "Why aren't you going?" she demanded.

"I am going," Ty said and the small boat jerked forwards. Once again, Ty caught Amy around the waist with one hand to keep her upright. The boat gathered speed as the distance between it and the ferry grew. Tim shouted after them but was not heard.

Ty slowed the speedboat down to a crawl when the ferry was but a dot in the distance.

Amy collapsed onto the couch and buried her face in a pillow.

"Do you want to go back?" Ty asked her.

Amy sat up. "No," she said. "I'd rather delay going back there."

"And it's my pleasure to delay your return," Ty flashed a grin. "Though," he remarked, "they may really think I'm kidnapping you then."

"Dad can think whatever he wants," Amy said.

"I use much the same philosophy with my dad, too," Ty continued trying to cheer Amy up.

"I'm in so much trouble," Amy groaned after a bit, glancing over her shoulder just to make sure that the ferry was nowhere near them.

"Welcome to the world of the bad kids," Ty said lightly.

a/n: so? I'll update soon and I'm off to work of RS. Review! -Steph